Integrating Twitter Bootstrap with Asp.net MVC 3 forms

Question

I am using Asp.net MVC 3 and Twitter Bootstrap. What I want is to integrate both of them. The big problem for me is forms. I am using the HtmlHelper and it is a problem, when it comes to the validation, I want it to generate HTML like this:

<div class="control-group error">
   <label for="field" class="control-label">OMG this label is so awesome: </label>
   <div class="controls">
      <input type="text" name="field" id="field" value="yeah" />
      <span class="help-inline">Eventually some error :C</span>
   </div>
</div>

Here is my HtmlHelper code:

@Html.LabelFor(x => x.Field)
@Html.EditorFor(x => x.Field)
@Html.ValidationMessagesFor(x => x.Field)

The problem is that I want the class error on outermost div to be set only if there actually is an error on this field. Other problem is that I don't know how to enforce using span tag for errors. I could write my method in HtmlHelper, but it'd make me reimplement almost all of the functionality of the LabelFor, EditorFor and ValidationMessageFor. Is there a simpler way to do this? And what about the unobtrusive validation?

Answer 1

I encountered the same challenge and with some help for the labels (see below), here is what I got :

<div class="control-group @if (!ViewData.ModelState.IsValidField("Name")) { @Html.Raw("error"); }">
    @Html.LabelFor(model => model.Name, new {@class = "control-label"})
    <div class="controls">
        @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Name)
        @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Name, null, new {@class = "help-inline"})
    </div>
</div>

Html.LabelFor implementation : https://stackoverflow.com/a/6722082

I didn't try with the unobstrusive validation, but it seems you just have to activate it.

If you are looking for a global error, you should use something like :

@if (ViewData.ModelState.IsValid == false) {
    <div class="alert alert-error"><button class="close" dismiss="alert">x</button><!-- some text--></div>
}

There is a live example (in french) here : http://ws.sherbrow.fr/auth

The whole project source code should be available some time soon (see my profile - or ask me directly).

Answer 2

A bit late answer, but I'll propose a better solution and you should totally accept my answer ;)

Use TwitterBootstrapMVC.

With a single line of code it will generate exactly the html you need:

@Html.Bootstrap().ControlGroup().TextBoxFor(x => x.Field)

For Global error all you need to write is:

@Html.Bootstrap().ValidationSummary()

... it will generate an alert div with all errors listed in it. Notice that for client side validation it needs some JavaScript for things to be styled properly.

On top of that it will take care of all the unobtrusive validation tags for you. It also offers fluent syntax, that enables full customization of the inputs/labels...

Check it out!

Disclaimer: I'm the author of TwitterBootstrapMVC As of Bootstrap 3 (and TwitterBootstrapMVC 3) TwitterBootstrapMVC requires a licence for usage.

Answer 3

I took the liberty and created an extension method that encapsulates the code from Sherbrow to render the error class when the field is not valid. This extension method has the advantage that it is strongly-typed and shorter to write:

public static MvcHtmlString ModelStateFor<TModel, TValue>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> html, Expression<Func<TModel, TValue>> expression)
    {
        var modelMetadata = ModelMetadata.FromLambdaExpression(expression, html.ViewData);

        if (html.ViewData.ModelState.IsValidField(modelMetadata.PropertyName))
        {
            return MvcHtmlString.Empty; 
        }

        return new MvcHtmlString("error");
    }

Answer 4

There's an article on BrainDonor that I've implemented with success just using the main LabelFor, EditorFor, and ValidationFor. I've placed this is a site wide js, then just make sure I have the control-group div and it's good to go.

Answer 5

You can integrate MVC3 validation with Bootstrap framework by adding the following javascript to your page (View)

<script>
$(document).ready(function () {
/* Bootstrap Fix */
$.validator.setDefaults({
    highlight: function (element) {
        $(element).closest("div.control-group").addClass("error");
    },
    unhighlight: function (element) {
        $(element).closest("div.control-group").removeClass("error");
    }
});
var current_div;
$(".editor-label, .editor-field").each(function () {
    var $this = $(this);
    if ($this.hasClass("editor-label")) {
        current_div = $('<div class="control-group"></div>').insertBefore(this);
    }
    current_div.append(this);
});
$(".editor-label").each(function () {
    $(this).contents().unwrap();
});
$(".editor-field").each(function () {
    $(this).addClass("controls");
    $(this).removeClass("editor-field");
});
$("label").each(function () {
    $(this).addClass("control-label");
});
$("span.field-validation-valid, span.field-validation-error").each(function () {
    $(this).addClass("help-inline");
});
$("form").each(function () {
    $(this).addClass("form-horizontal");
    $(this).find("div.control-group").each(function () {
        if ($(this).find("span.field-validation-error").length > 0) {
            $(this).addClass("error");
        }
    });
});
});
</script>

Besides, on the Views (for example "Create.cshtml") make sure that the fields in the form are formatted as the following...

    <div class="editor-label">
        @Html.LabelFor(Function(model) model.Name)
    </div>
    <div class="editor-field">
        @Html.EditorFor(Function(model) model.Name)
        @Html.ValidationMessageFor(Function(model) model.Name)
    </div>

Answer 6

I don't know if this will help anyone, but I've modified M$'s jquery.validate.unobtrusive.js to achieve this. It was overriding the default settings provided by $.validator.setDefaults() and was creating problems to me. If you replace the JS file with this one it should work as you want it to work with bootstrap's CSS (no other changes needed - except some CSS classes on input elements and labels).

The $jQval.setDefaults() is the main stuff. The rest is just me fixing M$'s code.

Here is the file:

/* NUGET: BEGIN LICENSE TEXT
 *
 * Microsoft grants you the right to use these script files for the sole
 * purpose of either: (i) interacting through your browser with the Microsoft
 * website or online service, subject to the applicable licensing or use
 * terms; or (ii) using the files as included with a Microsoft product subject
 * to that product's license terms. Microsoft reserves all other rights to the
 * files not expressly granted by Microsoft, whether by implication, estoppel
 * or otherwise. Insofar as a script file is dual licensed under GPL,
 * Microsoft neither took the code under GPL nor distributes it thereunder but
 * under the terms set out in this paragraph. All notices and licenses
 * below are for informational purposes only.
 *
 * NUGET: END LICENSE TEXT */
/*!
** Unobtrusive validation support library for jQuery and jQuery Validate
** Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
*/

/*jslint white: true, browser: true, onevar: true, undef: true, nomen: true, eqeqeq: true, plusplus: true, bitwise: true, regexp: true, newcap: true, immed: true, strict: false */
/*global document: false, jQuery: false */

(function ($) {
    var $jQval = $.validator,
        adapters,
        data_validation = "unobtrusiveValidation";

    // Override jquery validate plugin defaults in order to utilize Twitter Bootstrap 3 has-error, has-success, etc. styling.
    $jQval.setDefaults({
        highlight: function (element, errorClass, validClass) {
            if (element.type === 'radio') {
                this.findByName(element.name).addClass(errorClass).removeClass(validClass);
            } else {
                $(element).addClass(errorClass).removeClass(validClass);
                $(element).closest('.form-group').removeClass('success').addClass('has-error');
            }
        },
        unhighlight: function (element, errorClass, validClass) {
            if (element.type === 'radio') {
                this.findByName(element.name).removeClass(errorClass).addClass(validClass);
            } else {
                $(element).removeClass(errorClass).addClass(validClass);
                $(element).closest('.form-group').removeClass('has-error').addClass('success');
            }
        },
        errorElement: 'span',
        errorClass: 'help-block',
        errorPlacement: function (error, element) {
            if (element.parent('.input-group').length || element.prop('type') === 'checkbox' || element.prop('type') === 'radio') {
                error.insertAfter(element.parent());
            } else {
                error.insertAfter(element);
            }
        }
    });


    $('span.field-validation-valid, span.field-validation-error').each(function () {
        $(this).addClass('help-inline');
    });

    function setValidationValues(options, ruleName, value) {
        options.rules[ruleName] = value;
        if (options.message) {
            options.messages[ruleName] = options.message;
        }
    }

    function splitAndTrim(value) {
        return value.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, "").split(/\s*,\s*/g);
    }

    function escapeAttributeValue(value) {
        // As mentioned on http://api.jquery.com/category/selectors/
        //return value.replace(/([!"#$%&'()*+,./:;<=>?@\[\\\]^`{|}~])/g, "\\$1");
        return value.replace(new RegExp("([!\"#$%&'()*+,./:;<=>?@\[\\\]^`{|}~])", 'g'), "\\$1");
    }

    function getModelPrefix(fieldName) {
        return fieldName.substr(0, fieldName.lastIndexOf(".") + 1);
    }

    function appendModelPrefix(value, prefix) {
        if (value.indexOf("*.") === 0) {
            value = value.replace("*.", prefix);
        }
        return value;
    }

    function onError(error, inputElement) {  // 'this' is the form element
        var container = $(this).find("[data-valmsg-for='" + escapeAttributeValue(inputElement[0].name) + "']"),
            replaceAttrValue = container.attr("data-valmsg-replace"),
            replace = replaceAttrValue ? $.parseJSON(replaceAttrValue) !== false : null;

        container.removeClass("field-validation-valid").addClass("field-validation-error");
        error.data("unobtrusiveContainer", container);

        if (replace) {
            container.empty();
            error.removeClass("input-validation-error").appendTo(container);
        }
        else {
            error.hide();
        }
    }

    function onErrors(event, validator) {  // 'this' is the form element
        var container = $(this).find("[data-valmsg-summary=true]"),
            list = container.find("ul");

        if (list && list.length && validator.errorList.length) {
            list.empty();
            container.addClass("validation-summary-errors").removeClass("validation-summary-valid");

            $.each(validator.errorList, function () {
                $("<li />").html(this.message).appendTo(list);
            });
        }
    }

    function onSuccess(error) {  // 'this' is the form element
        var container = error.data("unobtrusiveContainer"),
            replaceAttrValue = container.attr("data-valmsg-replace"),
            replace = replaceAttrValue ? $.parseJSON(replaceAttrValue) : null;

        if (container) {
            container.addClass("field-validation-valid").removeClass("field-validation-error");
            error.removeData("unobtrusiveContainer");

            if (replace) {
                container.empty();
            }
        }
    }

    function onReset(event) {  // 'this' is the form element
        var $form = $(this);
        $form.data("validator").resetForm();
        $form.find(".validation-summary-errors")
            .addClass("validation-summary-valid")
            .removeClass("validation-summary-errors");
        $form.find(".field-validation-error")
            .addClass("field-validation-valid")
            .removeClass("field-validation-error")
            .removeData("unobtrusiveContainer")
            .find(">*")  // If we were using valmsg-replace, get the underlying error
                .removeData("unobtrusiveContainer");
    }

    function validationInfo(form) {
        var $form = $(form),
            result = $form.data(data_validation),
            onResetProxy = $.proxy(onReset, form),
            defaultOptions = $jQval.unobtrusive.options || {},
            execInContext = function (name, args) {
                var func = defaultOptions[name];
                func && $.isFunction(func) && func.apply(form, args);
            }

        if (!result) {
            result = {
                options: $.extend($jQval.defaults, {  // options structure passed to jQuery Validate's validate() method
                    errorClass: defaultOptions.errorClass || "input-validation-error",
                    errorElement: defaultOptions.errorElement || "span",
                    errorPlacement: function () {
                        onError.apply(form, arguments);
                        execInContext("errorPlacement", arguments);
                    },
                    invalidHandler: function () {
                        onErrors.apply(form, arguments);
                        execInContext("invalidHandler", arguments);
                    },
                    messages: {},
                    rules: {},
                    success: function () {
                        onSuccess.apply(form, arguments);
                        execInContext("success", arguments);
                    }
                }),
                attachValidation: function () {
                    $form
                        .off("reset." + data_validation, onResetProxy)
                        .on("reset." + data_validation, onResetProxy)
                        .validate(this.options);
                },
                validate: function () {  // a validation function that is called by unobtrusive Ajax
                    $form.validate();
                    return $form.valid();
                }
            };
            $form.data(data_validation, result);
        }

        return result;
    }

    $jQval.unobtrusive = {
        adapters: [],

        parseElement: function (element, skipAttach) {
            /// <summary>
            /// Parses a single HTML element for unobtrusive validation attributes.
            /// </summary>
            /// <param name="element" domElement="true">The HTML element to be parsed.</param>
            /// <param name="skipAttach" type="Boolean">[Optional] true to skip attaching the
            /// validation to the form. If parsing just this single element, you should specify true.
            /// If parsing several elements, you should specify false, and manually attach the validation
            /// to the form when you are finished. The default is false.</param>
            var $element = $(element),
                form = $element.parents("form")[0],
                valInfo, rules, messages;

            if (!form) {  // Cannot do client-side validation without a form
                return;
            }

            valInfo = validationInfo(form);
            valInfo.options.rules[element.name] = rules = {};
            valInfo.options.messages[element.name] = messages = {};

            $.each(this.adapters, function () {
                var prefix = "data-val-" + this.name,
                    message = $element.attr(prefix),
                    paramValues = {};

                if (message !== undefined) {  // Compare against undefined, because an empty message is legal (and falsy)
                    prefix += "-";

                    $.each(this.params, function () {
                        paramValues[this] = $element.attr(prefix + this);
                    });

                    this.adapt({
                        element: element,
                        form: form,
                        message: message,
                        params: paramValues,
                        rules: rules,
                        messages: messages
                    });
                }
            });

            $.extend(rules, { "__dummy__": true });

            if (!skipAttach) {
                valInfo.attachValidation();
            }
        },

        parse: function (selector) {
            /// <summary>
            /// Parses all the HTML elements in the specified selector. It looks for input elements decorated
            /// with the [data-val=true] attribute value and enables validation according to the data-val-*
            /// attribute values.
            /// </summary>
            /// <param name="selector" type="String">Any valid jQuery selector.</param>

            // $forms includes all forms in selector's DOM hierarchy (parent, children and self) that have at least one
            // element with data-val=true
            var $selector = $(selector),
                $forms = $selector.parents()
                                  .addBack()
                                  .filter("form")
                                  .add($selector.find("form"))
                                  .has("[data-val=true]");

            $selector.find("[data-val=true]").each(function () {
                $jQval.unobtrusive.parseElement(this, true);
            });

            $forms.each(function () {
                var info = validationInfo(this);
                if (info) {
                    info.attachValidation();
                }
            });
        }
    };

    adapters = $jQval.unobtrusive.adapters;

    adapters.add = function (adapterName, params, fn) {
        /// <summary>Adds a new adapter to convert unobtrusive HTML into a jQuery Validate validation.</summary>
        /// <param name="adapterName" type="String">The name of the adapter to be added. This matches the name used
        /// in the data-val-nnnn HTML attribute (where nnnn is the adapter name).</param>
        /// <param name="params" type="Array" optional="true">[Optional] An array of parameter names (strings) that will
        /// be extracted from the data-val-nnnn-mmmm HTML attributes (where nnnn is the adapter name, and
        /// mmmm is the parameter name).</param>
        /// <param name="fn" type="Function">The function to call, which adapts the values from the HTML
        /// attributes into jQuery Validate rules and/or messages.</param>
        /// <returns type="jQuery.validator.unobtrusive.adapters" />
        if (!fn) {  // Called with no params, just a function
            fn = params;
            params = [];
        }
        this.push({ name: adapterName, params: params, adapt: fn });
        return this;
    };

    adapters.addBool = function (adapterName, ruleName) {
        /// <summary>Adds a new adapter to convert unobtrusive HTML into a jQuery Validate validation, where
        /// the jQuery Validate validation rule has no parameter values.</summary>
        /// <param name="adapterName" type="String">The name of the adapter to be added. This matches the name used
        /// in the data-val-nnnn HTML attribute (where nnnn is the adapter name).</param>
        /// <param name="ruleName" type="String" optional="true">[Optional] The name of the jQuery Validate rule. If not provided, the value
        /// of adapterName will be used instead.</param>
        /// <returns type="jQuery.validator.unobtrusive.adapters" />
        return this.add(adapterName, function (options) {
            setValidationValues(options, ruleName || adapterName, true);
        });
    };

    adapters.addMinMax = function (adapterName, minRuleName, maxRuleName, minMaxRuleName, minAttribute, maxAttribute) {
        /// <summary>Adds a new adapter to convert unobtrusive HTML into a jQuery Validate validation, where
        /// the jQuery Validate validation has three potential rules (one for min-only, one for max-only, and
        /// one for min-and-max). The HTML parameters are expected to be named -min and -max.</summary>
        /// <param name="adapterName" type="String">The name of the adapter to be added. This matches the name used
        /// in the data-val-nnnn HTML attribute (where nnnn is the adapter name).</param>
        /// <param name="minRuleName" type="String">The name of the jQuery Validate rule to be used when you only
        /// have a minimum value.</param>
        /// <param name="maxRuleName" type="String">The name of the jQuery Validate rule to be used when you only
        /// have a maximum value.</param>
        /// <param name="minMaxRuleName" type="String">The name of the jQuery Validate rule to be used when you
        /// have both a minimum and maximum value.</param>
        /// <param name="minAttribute" type="String" optional="true">[Optional] The name of the HTML attribute that
        /// contains the minimum value. The default is "min".</param>
        /// <param name="maxAttribute" type="String" optional="true">[Optional] The name of the HTML attribute that
        /// contains the maximum value. The default is "max".</param>
        /// <returns type="jQuery.validator.unobtrusive.adapters" />
        return this.add(adapterName, [minAttribute || "min", maxAttribute || "max"], function (options) {
            var min = options.params.min,
                max = options.params.max;

            if (min && max) {
                setValidationValues(options, minMaxRuleName, [min, max]);
            }
            else if (min) {
                setValidationValues(options, minRuleName, min);
            }
            else if (max) {
                setValidationValues(options, maxRuleName, max);
            }
        });
    };

    adapters.addSingleVal = function (adapterName, attribute, ruleName) {
        /// <summary>Adds a new adapter to convert unobtrusive HTML into a jQuery Validate validation, where
        /// the jQuery Validate validation rule has a single value.</summary>
        /// <param name="adapterName" type="String">The name of the adapter to be added. This matches the name used
        /// in the data-val-nnnn HTML attribute(where nnnn is the adapter name).</param>
        /// <param name="attribute" type="String">[Optional] The name of the HTML attribute that contains the value.
        /// The default is "val".</param>
        /// <param name="ruleName" type="String" optional="true">[Optional] The name of the jQuery Validate rule. If not provided, the value
        /// of adapterName will be used instead.</param>
        /// <returns type="jQuery.validator.unobtrusive.adapters" />
        return this.add(adapterName, [attribute || "val"], function (options) {
            setValidationValues(options, ruleName || adapterName, options.params[attribute]);
        });
    };

    $jQval.addMethod("__dummy__", function (value, element, params) {
        return true;
    });

    $jQval.addMethod("regex", function (value, element, params) {
        var match;
        if (this.optional(element)) {
            return true;
        }

        match = new RegExp(params).exec(value);
        return (match && (match.index === 0) && (match[0].length === value.length));
    });

    $jQval.addMethod("nonalphamin", function (value, element, nonalphamin) {
        var match;
        if (nonalphamin) {
            match = value.match(/\W/g);
            match = match && match.length >= nonalphamin;
        }
        return match;
    });

    if ($jQval.methods.extension) {
        adapters.addSingleVal("accept", "mimtype");
        adapters.addSingleVal("extension", "extension");
    } else {
        // for backward compatibility, when the 'extension' validation method does not exist, such as with versions
        // of JQuery Validation plugin prior to 1.10, we should use the 'accept' method for
        // validating the extension, and ignore mime-type validations as they are not supported.
        adapters.addSingleVal("extension", "extension", "accept");
    }

    adapters.addSingleVal("regex", "pattern");
    adapters.addBool("creditcard").addBool("date").addBool("digits").addBool("email").addBool("number").addBool("url");
    adapters.addMinMax("length", "minlength", "maxlength", "rangelength").addMinMax("range", "min", "max", "range");
    adapters.addMinMax("minlength", "minlength").addMinMax("maxlength", "minlength", "maxlength");
    adapters.add("equalto", ["other"], function (options) {
        var prefix = getModelPrefix(options.element.name),
            other = options.params.other,
            fullOtherName = appendModelPrefix(other, prefix),
            element = $(options.form).find(":input").filter("[name='" + escapeAttributeValue(fullOtherName) + "']")[0];

        setValidationValues(options, "equalTo", element);
    });
    adapters.add("required", function (options) {
        // jQuery Validate equates "required" with "mandatory" for checkbox elements
        if (options.element.tagName.toUpperCase() !== "INPUT" || options.element.type.toUpperCase() !== "CHECKBOX") {
            setValidationValues(options, "required", true);
        }
    });
    adapters.add("remote", ["url", "type", "additionalfields"], function (options) {
        var value = {
            url: options.params.url,
            type: options.params.type || "GET",
            data: {}
        },
            prefix = getModelPrefix(options.element.name);

        $.each(splitAndTrim(options.params.additionalfields || options.element.name), function (i, fieldName) {
            var paramName = appendModelPrefix(fieldName, prefix);
            value.data[paramName] = function () {
                return $(options.form).find(":input").filter("[name='" + escapeAttributeValue(paramName) + "']").val();
            };
        });

        setValidationValues(options, "remote", value);
    });
    adapters.add("password", ["min", "nonalphamin", "regex"], function (options) {
        if (options.params.min) {
            setValidationValues(options, "minlength", options.params.min);
        }
        if (options.params.nonalphamin) {
            setValidationValues(options, "nonalphamin", options.params.nonalphamin);
        }
        if (options.params.regex) {
            setValidationValues(options, "regex", options.params.regex);
        }
    });

    $(function () {
        $jQval.unobtrusive.parse(document);
    });
}(jQuery));